Surprise winners as greatest athlete bracket now down to Excellent 8 By: Taylor Allen Posted: 3:00 PM CDT Friday, May. 29, 2020

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/05/2020 (1972 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Well, there goes my bracket.

Before Sports Showdown began two weeks ago, sports editor Steve Lyons asked me who I thought was going to win it all.

Without hesitating, I said Cindy Klassen. As Canada’s most decorated Olympian, I thought it was a pretty easy argument to make. She also won the Lou Marsh Award in 2006 in what was arguably one of our country’s most impressive years in sports as she beat out NBA MVP Steve Nash and MLB American League MVP Justin Morneau to claim the honour.

In order for my prediction to be correct, I knew Klassen would have to eventually get through Clara Hughes, who, as you already know, is the only athlete to ever win multiple medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. No offence to the other athletes, but I thought it was a matchup that was destined to happen.

It turns out Paralympic swimmer Tim McIsaac had other plans. He led over Klassen from start to finish and pulled off the upset with a 395-314 victory. McIsaac will now challenge Hughes for a berth to the semifinals.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a betting man.

While I don’t necessarily agree with the result, I think it’s pretty awesome that a para-athlete knocked off a household name in Klassen. I’m all for McIsaac getting some well-deserved recognition as his success in the 1980s brought more attention to para-sports in our province. His success certainly helped pave the way for future Manitoba Paralympians such as a fellow blind swimmer Kirby Cote and wheelchair basketball star Joey Johnson.

Former NFL defensive lineman Israel Idonije fell to Manitoba-born major leaguer Corey Koskie by 110 votes. Koskie will now go toe to toe with Jonathan Toews to decide the winner of the Local Pros region. Toews was in the closest matchup of the second round, as the Chicago Blackhawks captain escaped with nine more votes than curling star Jennifer Jones.

As for the hometown teams, Finnish sniper Teemu Selanne enjoyed another blowout victory in the Jets division as he beat Anders Hedberg 364-69. The other Jets matchup wasn’t close either as Dale Hawerchuk surpassed Bobby Hull by nearly 270 votes.

Tough week for the WHA boys. It’s evident this town still has a soft spot for the NHL 1.0 Jets.

In Bomberland, Chris Walby proved to be the best Canadian in the region as he topped defensive lineman Doug Brown by 110 tallies. Walby will have a date with the Turtle Man next round, as Milt Stegall’s record-breaking ways were enough to get him past quarterback Ken Ploen by more than 100 points.

Now this is where things start to get fun (or stressful, depending on how you look at it). Who deserves to represent their region and be one of the last four athletes standing? I’d share my picks, but I already tossed my busted bracket into the shredder.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Click to vote for Manitoba’s greatest athlete

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

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